Just another Test 7.0 Sites site

1984

Winston knows owning a diary could get him killed or at least five years in a work camp. Still, Winston is going crazy inside. He needs to express himself. Winston needs an outlet for all his aggression that he has against the Party and what it stands for. Winston needs this outlet, no matter how small or symbolic, to write down that he exists as a separate entity from the Party.

JUlia and Winston stroll through the little enclave. Winston, standing at the edge of their small clearing, suddenly recognizes the scenery: it is the Golden Country from his dreams. A small thrush perched near them begins to sing passionately, and the sound strikes Winston as an example of simple, pure, unstoppable beauty. They head back to the clearing. Just as he saw in his dream, Julia tears off her clothes and they embrace. She reveals that she has done this with many Party members, and Winston explains that the more men she has been with, the more he will love her. He is inspired by her freedom and passionate rebellion, as corruption within the Party gives him hope for the future. After having sex, Winston likens their affair to a political act; a blow against the Party.
When Julia wakes from her short slumber, she immediately becomes businesslike: she dresses herself, and discusses where they should next meet, as it is dangerous to return to the same place more than a couple of times. They are able to meet up again privately once in the month of May, in a ruined church belfry, but otherwise they must be satiated with minor, seemingly accidental and unnoticed encounters in public streets, during which they pretend not to know each other. At the church tower, Winston learns more about Julias life. She is twenty-six, lives in a hostel with other girls, and works on the novel-writing machine in the Fiction Department. She has no memories of life before the Revolution, and knows barely anyone who does. Throughout her life she has been an ideal Party member, often singled out for leadership roles in youth organizations. She also reveals that she has worked in Pornosec, the pornography section of the Fiction Department, devoted to creating pornographic stories for the proles. Apparently the Party believes women are better suited for Pornosec, because their morals wont be as tempted by the material as their male counterparts. She had her first love affair at sixteen, and does not believe in the underground anti-Party Brotherhood movement.
Winston discusses his own life, and talks about his wife, Katharine, calling her “goodthinkful,” meaning entirely and completely loyal to the Party, even in her most private thoughts. Winston hated her, and her cold, businesslike approach to their sex life. Julia predicts that Katharine called sex her “duty to the Party,” and Winston is surprised to learn that this is a phrase women are taught to use. With this realization, he begins to understand the depths of the Partys sexual Puritanism. Removing sex allows ones energy to be otherwise focused, into violent loyalty to the Party and hatred of its enemies. Moreover, removing the parent instinct removes any loyalty other than that to the Party. Next, Winston reveals that once, while separated from a larger group on a walk in the country, he considered murdering his wife, but did not. Julia states that he should have done it to free himself. Winston agrees.
After a moment, Winston begins to understand that Julia believes it might be possible to continue living a secret life, while Winston knows the Thought Police will find them eventually. Stating his belief, Winston says, “We are the dead.” Julia argues that they are not dead yet and begins to describe her next plan for them to meet.
Analysis
In these chapters, Winston takes a significant step in his rebellion against the Party. He begins a love affair, blatantly rejecting the Partys hatred of sexual attraction and enjoyment. In Julia, Winston finally finds a compatriot in his quest against the Party. He is no longer alone. Julias presence supports Winstons anti-Party thoughts and feelings, but their affair also highlights the differences in their attitudes toward the Party. Julie despises the Party, but accepts it as a permanent ruling government. She has no illusions of bringing the Party down or of a successful rebellion against it. Rather, she enjoys finding her own ways to rebel against the Party, such as efficiently planning her and Winstons encounters. Julia wants to live as long as possible without being caught in her small rebellions, and within the bounds of the Party. In contrast, Winston is sure that he will be arrested and will die. Rather than working to protect his own life, Winston embraces fatalism while holding out hope for a rebellion against the Party and dreams of a Party-free future.
Julia and Winston meet in the square and observe a procession of prisoners of war. Here, we see the brutality of the totalitarian regime. The Party purposely parades these prisoners through a public square to use them as sources of propaganda and to rally the crowd against them. The parade of prisoners suggests that the Party is succeeding in battle and rallies the crowds support for the Partys war efforts. Here again, the Party is masterfully manipulating the minds of its subjects through carefully planned propaganda efforts. Moreover, these prisoners and others already in Oceania are the only foreigners in the nation. Oceanian citizens never interact with foreigners – yet another method of control that prevents Oceanian citizens from understanding what life would be like outside of Oceania or beyond the reach of the Party. With no basis for comparison, Oceanian citizens have no choice but to be content with their lives.
Winston and Julias encounter in the Golden Country is an important moment in the novel. Here, Winston sees the vision from his dream – Julia ripping her clothes of in the middle of the Golden Country – transformed into reality. In addition, he is inspired by a thrushs passionate song, which is, in Winstons eyes, a wonderful expression of freedom and beauty. Throughout the novel, Winston finds great inspiration in music. Here, it is through the thrush, and in much of the rest of the novel, it is through the red-armed, large prole woman who sings passionately while doing laundry in her yard.
Winston talks about his wife with Julia, revealing her sexual frigidity, and Julia is not surprised. Again, the Partys puritanical views on sexuality become apparent. Winston is encouraged to learn that Julia has had many affairs, her first at age sixteen. In his eyes, this behavior is a great act of political rebellion against the Party, and he is eager to take part in it. On a more personal level, Winston is elated to finally be in a sexual relationship where both parties are eager for personal pleasure, and in which the Party plays no role.